Plan B
by PaperSky95
Summary: Annabeth had a back-up plan for everything, even things akin to dying.   -A winter holidays gift to Tzadikim-


White.

Everywhere Percy cared to look, the world had been blanched in white. The only thing that broke away from the monochromatic scene was Annabeth, injured and panting on the ground. He wished he could go to her, help her, comfort her, but the crushing weight of their current situation kept him at bay.

It had all happened so fast.

Annabeth had planned the trip, reassuring Percy that if they could fight monsters of for 40 years of life, they could learn to ski. But when the alarm bells rang and the ominous rumbling began, Percy realized that for once, the daughter of Athena might have been wrong.

The avalanche came with surprising speed, smothering everything in its path.

"It's all just frozen water!" Annabeth had screeched, voice rising above the roar of the rolling snow. Their skis carved weakly into it, inexperience and fear slowing them down. "Percy, you have to try and do _something_!"

"_Frozen water, frozen water_," he had chanted to himself as he drew on that familiar well of power in his gut. The snow surrounding him reacted, bending away before his skis could touch it. It was harder than seawater, but possible. Sending a silent prayer to his father, Percy let the power lash out and had hoped for the best.

The best had turned out to be a less than perfect pocket of air buried under several tones of snow.

Percy listened to his pulse beat wildly in his ears. The snow seemed to be stopping. He shifted, trying to get more of Annabeth in his view while still keeping their makeshift roof up.

"Annabeth?"

The call bounced off the sides of their little shelter, and Percy felt panic flood through him as he listened to the following silence.

"Annabeth? Oh gods, ANNABETH?"

Masses of ice pelted them both as Percy began to lose control. He breathed in deep, willing himself to calm down, to think logically. She could just be unconscious. That's right, unconscious, totally possible. He should just leave her be for now. After all, if he let himself cave into his emotions now, they'd both be crushed.

Percy wished he could be logical at a time like this, but that just wasn't who he was.

Annabeth was the logical one, not him.

The thought sent a new wave of anxiety through him, and Percy struggled to hold onto reason.

A sputtering cough tore him away from his thoughts.

"…Annabeth?"

Again, no reply.

But as Percy strained his ears for one, he heard the gentle rasp of her labored breathing.

The relief hit him almost as hard as the panic had, and Percy vaguely felt his knees buckle under him. The snow groaned in protest, but he didn't give a damn. If he wanted to feel comforted by his wife's relative safely, then gods above he was going to.

The silence dragged on, punctuated only by Annabeth's rhythmic breaths.

Percy lost all sense of time as seconds bled into minutes and those into hours. Cold and fatigue were beginning to seep into him. Gods, how long had it been since the avalanche first started?

He shook his head, clearing the dark spots that had gathered at the edge of his vision. Resolving himself, Percy focused on Annabeth's every inhale and exhale. They fortified him, urging him to keep awake for just a bit longer.

Sometime in between soon and later, help finally arrived in the form of a pissed off oracle.

"I told you two that skiing was a bad idea," Rachel berated as the demigod rescue party hoisted them up. "But do you listen to the prophetic oracle? No, of course not."

"Nice to see you too, Rachel," Percy replied lamely, watching a daughter of Apollo who seemed to be in charge of healing. "Is Annabeth okay?"

"Annabeth's fine," the redhead replied with a dismissive wave. "She just got knocked out by the impact, nothing to be screaming your head over."

Percy felt himself flush with embarrassment. "Oh…you saw that, huh?"

Rachel sighed and rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "Percy, you two have survived monsters, titans, and _marriage_. I highly doubt a little tumble like this would be enough do anything."

"Excuse me, Mr. Jackson," the Apollo healer interjected, saving Percy from having to come up with a witty response. "Your wife's woken up."

"Thanks," Percy said, excusing himself from Rachel's exasperated rage. All that damned snow crunched innocently under his feet as he walked towards his wife. Tired, he plopped down into an Indian sit next to her with a lengthy sigh. Annabeth sent him a small smile and Percy couldn't help mirroring it.

"Hey," he greeted, brushing a stray lock of hair away from her freezing face.

"Hey," she parroted, catching his hand in hers. The grey of her eyes sparked with what Percy knew was some kind of fanatical idea. "I've been thinking…"

"When," Percy asked. "Did you find time in all that to think?"

"I'm always thinking," Annabeth said. "Anyway, in case something like this happens again—"

Percy raised a questioning eyebrow at her. "Something like this?"

"You know, something fatal," she supplied dismissively. "I think we should have a plan."

Now Percy, being Percy, had misunderstood a lot of stupid things in life. But this was confusing on a whole new level. "A plan for dying?"

"No, Seaweed Brain, a plan for what comes after."

"For…rebirth?"

"That's right. Let's make a plan, Percy."

"To meet up even if we have no idea who the other is?"

"That's right," she confirmed, tugging him down with surprising strength.

He landed resounding poof and laughed. "I guess we'll make it work."

"Just stick to the plan, Percy."

"Love you too, Annabeth."

_**Percy & Annabeth Jackson**_

_1994 – 2067_

_Friends, Parents, Heroes_

"I win," the girl pronounced smugly, dragging a pile of chocolate coins towards her.

"You have?" the boy scowled, pushing against the railing of her hospital bed. His chair balanced precariously on two legs while she collected her prize. "Claire, I think you've rigged this top."

"Dylan, it's not a top," she chided. "It's a dreidel."

"If we were actually playing for money, I'd be broke," he sighed, poking at his last coin.

A knock at their door tore the two away from their game.

"Come in," Claire called, ignoring her companion's sour expression.

Dr. Sol walked in with his usual cheery air, waving a casual hello to the visiting teen. "Here again, Dylan?"

"Yep," Dylan replied, swinging his chair back down to all fours. He watched the doctor roll Claire's pajama sleeve up with morbid curiosity. "What are you testing for this time?"

"White blood cell count," Claire supplied before Dr. Sol could open his mouth.

The doctor chuckled as he tied a tourniquet onto Claire's upper arm and uncapped a syringe. He noticed absentmindedly that her pajamas had cartoon t-rexes rampaging all over them. "Interesting pattern, Claire. I didn't know you liked dinosaurs so much."

"I don't," she said. "Dylan does."

"I gave her those last Christmas," the boy said. He watched Dr. Sol slide the needle in and frowned. "Do you really have to do that so often?"

The doctor just smiled again, knowing that Dylan was just asking out of habit. The question was asked every time anything ever happened to Claire. And after the past few years, Dr. Sol would bet his license that Dylan knew enough about medicine to be a nurse.

"I guess you'll be wanting a copy of the results for yourself," the doctor asked his patient as he pulled the needle out with swift practiced movements.

"Of course," Claire replied. "How else am I going to know what's happening inside me?"

"You _could_ just listen to me," Dr. Sol joked. He gathered up his instruments and scribbled on his clipboard. "I guess I'll see you both tomorrow."

"Bye," the two teens chorused, waving the adult away.

Claire turned to smile wickedly at her boyfriend. "Ready to go again?"

"All or nothing?" Dylan offered as she spun the wooden toy.

The dreidel wobbled on its axis, bringing unwanted thoughts to Claire's mind. Sometimes, she pretended that she was winning time instead of chocolate. That with every round that went in her favor, she gained another month of life. A few more moments to spend with friends, family, and Dylan. It scared her to think, to _know_ that her life would be ending sooner rather than later.

Her logical side reminded her that everybody would die eventually. It told her that she should cherish what little time she had left.

"Ha!" Dylan exclaimed as the dreidel came to a stop. "I won! I won, right?"

But a little voice in her head reminded Claire that sometime, somewhere, some_how_ she would meet Dylan again. Claire strained to listen to that voice, because it was the only thing that kept her going.

_**Claire Robins**_

_2102 – 2119_

_Fighter_

_**Dylan Munroe**_

_2102 – 2166_

_Doctor_

"_Crud,"_ the seven year old thought to himself, taking refuge behind a particularly tall mound of snow. His breaths came in short puffs, fogging the air around him.

A rallying call echoed from the other side of the snow-blanketed field. "_FIRE!_"

He braced himself for the barrage of snowballs that followed, frowning. This wasn't fair. He'd lost one of his mittens in enemy territory. How was he supposed to fight back properly without proper equipment?

About a hundred snowballs later, the bombardment eased up. The boy listened to the tell tale scuffle of reloading and frowned some more. Somewhere in the background carolers were hollering their hearts out, ignorant of the serious warfare happening right under their noses.

In the midst of the ceasefire, help came in an unprecedented form.

A girl.

If the boy hadn't been so desperate, he would've run for a cootie shot that very instant.

"Hey," he greeted begrudgingly.

"Hey," she parroted, brushing snow out of her hair. Digging through her pockets, she tossed a bright blue lump at the boy. "This yours?"

The boy picked the familiar, now soggy, lump up. "My mitten? How'd you—"

"Shhh," she shushed, listening. The scuffling had stopped. She turned to the boy, a twinkle in her eyes. "Alright, here's the plan."

* * *

><p>Note: This fic was done for a Secret Santa Fic Exchange over at the Veritaville forums :) I tried to make it it didn't seem like the prompts were too forced, dunno if I succeeded. This is the first time I'm ever actually doing a promptfic. Don't be afraid to tell me how I did. Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year to you all! :D<p>

Prompts:

Avalanche and singing

Dreidel and t-rex

Killer snowball fight


End file.
